It's essential that her death not be overlooked. The details surrounding the slaying, and our reaction to them, raise the question: Are all lives equal in Dallas?

The 27-year-old Simmons lost her life Monday night during an armed robbery. Consider these two divergent descriptions of the victim:

Simmons was a white North Dallas woman, shot to death as she darted into a well-stocked grocery while her husband was home with their two children.

What would be your reaction to that death?

Now this one: Simmons was a single black mother with six children, gunned down while working the evening shift at a dollar store in southeast Oak Cliff.

Does your reaction change?

If we are a community that is who and what we say we are, our response to both scenarios would be the same. We would view each life — regardless of race and socioeconomic circumstances, regardless of where the victim lived and died — as being of equal value.

But chances are that too many of us do react differently to the two examples. We make judgments, we jump to conclusions.

We choose to allow some deaths to be unremarkable, especially in high-crime areas where violence is increasingly written into the daily routine.

As you've likely figured out, the Gabrielle Monique Simmons whom we are lifting up today is the woman in the second description.

She moved to Dallas from small-town Mississippi only last year to try to build a better life for her kids, ages 7 months to 11 years. Now her fiancé is left to return there with the young children.

People who frequented the Dollar General, near the intersection of East Ledbetter and Bonnie View, recall Simmons' friendliness — and her fear that her job, at a business that was no stranger to robberies, could turn deadly.

Gabrielle Monique Simmons

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Simmons had reason to be scared: Even after she complied Monday night with a gunman's demand that she dump the contents of the cash drawer into his bag, he fired into her chest, mortally wounding her.

City Hall and the Dallas Police Department owe a debt to Simmons and all the other innocents who have died in similarly invisible tragedies. Every Dallas resident deserves a safe community, surely not one saturated by the crime that those in Simmons' neighborhood endure daily.

Just as important, all of us who call this city our home need to take some responsibility, turn the mirror on ourselves and think again about that North Dallas-east Oak Cliff comparison.

Our responses — including the lack of one — play a big part in perpetuating the inequities that crush so many of our fellow residents.

Only when that thinking changes, will our city begin to be a real hometown to all of us.

How to help

-- Dallas Community Fellowship is taking donations for the family. Monetary donations or items like food, diapers or toiletries can be dropped off at 3015 E. Ledbetter Street in Dallas. Or call 972-464-7553 or 929-428-9366.

-- A 15-year-old was arrested Thursday in connection with this case. If you have any additional info, contact Dallas police at 214-671-3647.